


Summer Skeletons

by menami



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, they kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-27 06:05:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12075039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/menami/pseuds/menami
Summary: Lup always loved the warmth, and Taako would have to agree; it was better than freezing alone outside.





	Summer Skeletons

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys, this is my first time writing fic for something other than mp100... and its super short. eh, what can ya do?

It was sweltering warm, the two suns warming the earth beneath their feet. Lup always loved the warmth, and Taako would have to agree; it was better than freezing alone outside. The cicadas screamed around them as they laid on the soft grass together.

They relished in the sounds of nature for a moment, neither saying a word. Taako was unsettled by the sheen of sweat that had formed on his skin. His hair clumped together and stuck to his forehead, long locks spread in a halo around his head. He stole a glance towards Lup, who glanced his way at the same time. Her shorter hair looked slick as well, her face glistening and a dark bruise forming around her swollen eye. A crust of blood remained below her left nostril, but she was grinning.

They both laughed, the bubbling sounds filling the clearing and silencing the chatter of birds, who flew far from the source. Taako propped himself up, wiping his watering eyes, before facing his sister once again.

“Thanks, Lup, I owe you one.”

Lup snorted. “No, you don’t. I’ve been looking to give that creep a fight this whole time. You just gave me the right opportunity.”

“Well, then, it’s back to the road for us, huh?” There was a hint of sadness in his voice, but he quickly tossed it aside when his sister grinned once again at him -- it was a wide, untainted grin, a tooth missing in her smile, and suddenly it didn’t seem so bad.

“Taako, let’s go wash up. Your knees look bad.” Taako smiled, glancing down at his legs. His shorts were messed with dirt, and his knees were scraped to hell, blood welling between clots of earth.

“It’s not that bad,” Taako protested. “I can take it. Besides- have you seen yourself? That purple does  _ not _ look good with your skin tone.”

Lup snorted, hopping to her feet. She didn’t even sway, despite how far they had run to get here. “Come on, you dingus.” She thrust out a hand to him and he took it gratefully, swinging up to his feet.

She looked down on him- that was new, she was never taller than him before, but she’d put on some inches during this last job. This one was longer than the others, they’d stuck with it for what, three months? Maybe four. He didn’t exactly like it, but it was better than fending for themselves in the woods.

Although, that was exactly what they were doing now.

Lup had already started heading downhill. Taako could hear flowing water nearby, but she seemed to have an idea where they were headed. He let his pride fall back and followed her from behind, content to be slow in the afternoon heat.

They found the lake as the sun started to set, dyed orange against the burning sky. Lup quickly kicked off her shoes and vest, rolling up her pant legs and wading away from the shore. She turned to look at Taako and gestured for him to follow.

With a small smile, he carefully took off his shoes, the nice shiny ones he’d stolen from the last city they’d ended up in, and then pulled off his own vest and shirt, hiding the nicer quality clothes under the junk ones.

He considered dipping his toe in, but a mage hand of a familiar golden color grabbed his wrist and pulled him in.

The water was chilly. It wasn’t too much for him, of course, because nothing was too much for Taako, but it shocked him as his whole body was tugged under.

But then Lup’s actual hands pulled him up with a smirk, and Taako snorted, water dribbling from his nose. Her smiled faded as her eyes looked from his face to the water, where red was clouding up against the clear lake. Taako floated onto his back, letting his stinging knees surface, now cleaned of the blood that had crusted there. 

“It doesn’t hurt, don’t worry about it.” His smile felt strained -- he was never good at lying to Lup.

“That guy… I should’ve listened to you when you first told me.” She frowned, and sat down in the water, ignoring how wet her own clothes would get. They would both be soaked tonight, but with luck they could scavenge something dry from some travellers on the road.

“Then we’d just be in this situation sooner,” Taako reminded her, and that wasn’t untrue. The captain wouldn’t listen to a few kids he’d hired to keep the place clean over his first mate. They’d have no choice but to flee. “Besides, we’re both fine now, so it’s all good, right? And maybe this time we can find work somewhere cooler, like a travelling circus.”

Now, Lup did laugh. Her shoulders bobbed as she giggled, and then she pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed.

Behind them, the last threads of the second sun faded away, and night fell around them, not too dark yet, but colder, less inviting.

But they would be okay for now, because that was always how it was.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! find me @serizawascrocs on tumblr
> 
> EDIT: oh, i forgot to mention, but this fic is inspired by the song [summer skeletons by radical face](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_N92w-pHKc&ab_channel=RadicalFace)


End file.
